Manhattan Small Plate Restaurant, Plado Tasting Bar, Opening New Location in Glen Cove at Old Riviera Grill Location
Chef German Rizzo is bringing his East Village small plate restaurant concept to Long Island early next year. Rizzo, who was born in Italy and traveled throughout Europe to perfect his craft, landed in New York where he worked as the executive chef for the Cipriani Group. In 2019, he opened Plado Tasting Bar in Manhattan. Now he’s planning to open another Plado in a spot he just acquired in Glen Cove.
“It’s going to be a new concept for Long Island,” said Kristin Rizzo, co-owner and manager at Plado Tasting Bar, in an interview with LongIslandRestaurant.com recently.
Kristin and German are not only business partners, they’re partners in life as well and the married couple have a similar way they like to experience food.
“We like to order everything on the menu,” said Rizzo.
The Rizzos like to try a little bit of everything and that idea formed the concept at Plado Tasting Bar. It’s not quite tapas, which Rizzo said are much smaller than the tasting plates they offer at their restaurant.
“Traditional Spanish tapas are bite-sized,” she explained.
Small plate dining at Plado is a little different. You order a bunch of different items on the menu that are in the Goldilocks zone – not too small and not too big. The plates at Plado Tasting Bar are just right.
“Sharing a meal together brings people together,” she said. “You enjoy each other’s company over a shared meal.”
That’s what they are bringing to Long Island. The restaurant is going in at 274 Glen Street in Glen Cove, the former location of Riviera Grill, which closed last year.
Rizzo says they are currently in the middle of a gut renovation of the old 4,000-square -foot restaurant building and are pushing to be open by late January 2024. They are putting in an open kitchen concept where diners will be able to see the chefs cooking their meals. The decor will be modern rustic with a relaxed, cozy, inviting atmosphere, according to Rizzo.
Most of their wines will be imported Italian and Spanish varieties and they will offer what she called carefully crafted cocktails, which they will change up seasonally. The food menu will also adjust to the season, according to Rizzo.
“Whatever German finds in the market,” she said. “He goes to the market every day.”
Rizzo, who grew up on Long Island, says they currently live here and while they love Manhattan they thought it was time to bring a little of what they started there out to the suburbs.
“We’re excited to open up something in our hometown,” she said.
📷 Plado Tasting Bar
